Basic Trope: A huge and important event happens, but most people in-universe don't know it happened, sometimes no one knows.
- Straight: Bob saves the world from Emperor Evulz, but only those two know that.
- Exaggerated:
- Also, thanks to Laser-Guided Amnesia, even Bob and/or Emperor Evulz forget what happened.
- Victory-Guided Amnesia
- Bob and Emperor Evulz forget who they are after the final showdown.
- Downplayed:
- Bob saves the world and this story is told on newspapers, magazines and television, but many people assume this to be just a lie.
- Bob saves the world and anybody else that lives in this world will not know that, but in the rest of the universe or in other worlds, Bob will be recognized as a true hero.
- Justified:
- Bob saved the world, but his fight with Emperor Evulz was in another world.
- Bob is a secret agent, so since his job is supposed to be secret, normal people shouldn't know what happened.
- Bob is hated by the press and/or government, so even though he saved the world, they will make sure that nobody else will not know about what he did.
- A Masquerade is on and Bob is supposed to maintain it, so he decides to never tell this story to nobody.
- The events of Bob's heroism are made an Over-the-Top Secret by the government. Afterwards, the people who freely know of Bob's deeds are the kind of people who will make sure it remains unknown by any means necessary.
- Bob wants privacy, he is happy by saving the world and he doesn't feel like he needs to be famous.
- Bob saves the world in front of a large crowd and/or being filmed by cameras, but people think this is just acting.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia is used to erase the memories of everyone who witnessed the events.
- Everyone knows the world was saved, but the Fake Ultimate Hero takes credit for doing it, and only Bob knows that he is really the hero.
- A Cosmic Retcon happens, and these events are erased from existence.
- Inverted:
- Bob saves the world, and makes sure that everyone in the world knows about it.
- Bob dooms the world with a great menace, and no one else knows it.
- Subverted: Bob saves the world and doesn't tell this to anybody, at first, it seems like this is a secret, but many people know it but decide to never talk about it too.
- Double Subverted: Those people who do know the story die, and so nobody knows about it.
- Parodied: Bob saves the world, but writes his story as a movie script, leading everyone to believe his mission to be a work of fiction.
- Zig Zagged: News of Bob's mission sparks a string of investigations as to whether or not the whole thing ever really took place, each conclusion disagreeing with the last one.
- Averted: Bob saves the world, and thanks to the press and the witnesses, this becomes public knowledge.
- Enforced: The story is a historical drama, and since Bob isn't in any history books, his story was obviously never told.
- Lampshaded: "Yeah, guess that even though I had a hard time saving the world, no one else will know that."
- Invoked: Bob is threatened to never reveal the truth.
- Exploited:
- "Since no one knows I saved the world, I can go back to my perfectly normal life that I love".
- On a darker note, since no one knows Bob is a hero, on his second attempt Emperor Evulz simply has a mook gun Bob down in the street. Everyone assumes it's just a random murder, and Emperor Evulz is able to repeat the same plan as before in total secrecy.
- Defied:
- Bob's companions realize nobody knows what he did for the people, so they head out and spread the story far and wide so Bob will be remembered.
- Evulz pulls off a Do Not Adjust Your Set once he discovers that Bob's actions are covert because of The Powers That Be and shows the world what Bob is doing, because he believes that he will win and wants Bob to provide an example of what he does to his enemies.
- Bob makes his deeds known, far and wide. Maybe they won't be believed, but they will be known.
- Discussed: "I'm not sure I like this kind of story much. It just gives the jerks of the team more ammunition for being ungrateful; the whole "oh, really, you saved the world? Where's the evidence — which I won't believe either?" thing."
- Conversed: "I'm sorry about not having done that coffee run you asked me to do, but you will notice that I have five bullet holes in me and a dozen bruises, which I'll be more than glad to explain how I got. And it's obvious you're not going to believe me, and I accept that you are not going to thank me. Nevertheless, I'm going to ask you to widen your eyes and lighten your voice tone, because I'm not in the mood!"
- Implied: After Bob saves the world, the story ends, and there are no clues that the events become known by everyone or not, but looks like they weren't.
- Deconstructed:
- Making this story a secret was a terrible idea, because when Emperor Evulz is back, the world's authorities have a hard time defeating him but they could defeat him easier if the events of his first defeat were known.
- Also, since Bob forgets what happened, he thinks he is normal and doesn't go back to fight him again.
- Bob never tells his story because he thinks as long as he knows he can be a badass it doesn't matters. But the constant bullying of All of the Other Reindeer because they do not know eventually gets to him and his thoughts are about he should have told his tale when he had the chance — now it's just too late, and if he had to face the same mess all over again, he is seriously unsure he will be able to gather the needed courage.
- Bob's decision to keep his story a secret was an act of terrible idiocy on his part overall because, even if he will not be believed by his friends, who continuously face weirder crap, because they don't trust him with anything, let alone that he would have the guts to save the world, he still is letting them step all over him.
- Reconstructed: Don't worry, his first defeat became a secret, but his second defeat is not, and Bob fights him again.
- Played For Laughs: Bob wanted so much to be a famous and respected hero, but since no one knows of his adventure, he goes back to be a loser that everyone picks on.
- Played For Drama: Bob wanted so much to be a famous and respected hero, but since no one else knows of his adventure, he becomes very depressed.
- Played For Horror: If Bob ever told his story, he would just bring the Inescapable Horror down on his head all over again.
- Plotted A Good Waste: The Adventures of Bob spends eighty-nine minutes yakking about how the mark of a hero is one that does his deeds without seeking the spotlight. The final minute is a montage of Bob seeking as much of the spotlight for his deed as possible.
And thus concludes The Greatest Story Never Told. But you probably won't remember being told about it after today.
